Improvement in keepers for door-latches



WILUAM HARVIEY.

Improvement in Door Latch.

NO- 122,011 Patented Dec-19,1871.

12:521. Fig.2.

C 6 e 6' c lness es I22 'vent'a r.

PATENT QFFICE.

\VILLIAM HARVEY, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN KEEPERS FOR DOOR-LATCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122.011, dated December11 187 1.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARVEY, of the city and. county of Albany,State of New York, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements inKeepers for Latch-Locks and I do hereby declare that the following is adescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawin gforming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents aperspective view of the invention, viewed from the front. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of the same, viewed from the back. Fig. 3 isalongitudinal cross-section of the same, taken at line No. 1, in Fig. 4.Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the same, taken at line No. 1, in Fig. 3.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the sliding catch.

My invention consists in a keeper for latch-locks, having an elasticlatch-catch, working on a backwear plate, and provided with a rear-endbearing, and with stops, all of which are so arranged as to hold theelastic bolt-catch securely in the body of the keeper and yet permit itsfree movement in an elastic manner before the pressure of the usuallatch-bolt without dragging or inclining in either direction, and alsoin such a manner that the said sliding catch will be supported at itsfront and in a line with its striking lip, and be sustained centrally byelastic pressure in its recess in the body of the keeper.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, I willproceed to describe my invention in reference to the drawing and theletters of reference marked thereon, the same letters referring to likeparts.

Section I.,In the drawing, A represents the stationary portion or bodyof the keeper, which is secured to the jainb in the usual manner. A is arecess made in the said stationary piece A, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Section II.-B is a wear-plate, secured to the back of the piece A,preferably by the screw 8, one or more, as shown in Fig. 3, whichwear-plate need only occupy a portion of the back of the said piece A,as shown in Fig. 1, if desired; and in such a case it is to be placeddirectly beneath the recess A, in which the sliding catch 0 is to work.By this arrangement of the wear-plate B with the stationary piece A thesliding catch will be held and supported from contact with the wood ofthe jamb, and be insured a free action in the body of the keeper.

Section III.-O is the latch-catch, which latchcatch sets in the recess Aof the body of the keeper and on the wear-plate B, and is capable ofbeing moved to a limited distance from the front of the keeper, as shownin Fig. 2. The said latch-catch is provided with a striking-edge, 0,Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5, which, when not acted upon, lines with the frontof the stationary piece A, while its rear end 0 is supported by the rearportion or of the body A, as shown. Attached to the said latch-catch, oneach side, are the supports a a, which work under the stationary piece Aoutside the recess A, and between the said stationary piece A andwear-plate B, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The said supports a. a areprovided with stops was between which works the stops z, made with thestationary piece A, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The said supports aa arealso recessed, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, to receive the springsD D, which are to ren der the latch-catch elastic, and are placed in aline with the front edge 0, as shown,

while the under side of the rear portion 6 of the said latch-catch is ona line with the top surface on of the rear of the recess made in thepiece A. By this arrangement of the recessed supports a a with thelatch-catch O and springs D D, placed in the recessed supports a a, thelatch-catch will be capable of yielding in an even elastic manner beforethe pressure which the latch-bolt of the lock exerts in the operation ofshutting the door, and will be prevented from dragging or inclining ineither direction, the object of this part of my invention being tosustain the body of the sliding latch-catch in every circumstance in onegiven relative position with the stationary piece, and be allowed toyield in an elastic manner before the pressure of the latch-bolt, to alimited distance, to be returned when the pressure is removed.

I am aware that a sliding catch or plate connected witha keeper has beenused, and that such sliding catches were kept in looking position byaweighted lever or spring; but in such keepers the said catches orplates had their modes of attachment with the main body of theirkeepers, consisting of ways and grooves, made correspondingly in thesaid plates or catches and main plate of the keeper, which ways andgrooves were intended to keep the said catches or plates in position andsustain them against any outward presssure. Although the saidarrangement of the grooves and Ways with their catches or plates and thebody of their keepers would accomplish their intended results, yet thecost attendingthe forming of the said Ways and grooves would'efl'ectually prevent their general use, for the said ways and groovesmust of necessity be formed by a tool, or if made of core castingsmustbe cleaned and turned by a tool. In my invention I dispense with allways and grooves, and the several parts of the keeper as constructed byme may be cast or molded, so as to require but little if any outlay oflabor to render their working perfect.

By my invention an elastic latch-keeper can be afforded at an expensebut a little more than that of the solid keeper in common use, while thedesideratum long known to exist will be fully supplied.

Witnesses:

JAS. W. BENTLEY, J OSEPH W. RUSSELL. (93)

